Namine
by Fuego-okami
Summary: You all know that half of the Kyuubi's chakra was sealed inside of Naruto, but what about the other half?
1. Chapter 1

I decided that since there are a few people who want me to write NOW and not wait for me to totally plan out the story that I was working on originally to make sure that I wouldn't have to discontinue it again, I should write another story to keep my writing juices flowing.

Setting: Namikaze Minato, as we all know, is Naruto's father and sealed half of the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of him. But what happened to the other half?

Jiraiya mentioned in both the anime and manga that he had a scroll containing a seal that would summon the other half and showed it to be a frog/scroll..... thing recently in the anime. So the other half had to have been sealed inside another living being, right?

Well if Minato were to have sealed all of the Kyuubi in one night, he would have had to have had both containers with him; in other words, he would have had to have gotten two infants at the same time- twins. If you look at Kushina in the recent anime flashback as well, you can kind of see that she's just a tad too pregnant to have just one kid.

So Minato sealed the Kyuubi into his twin children that night, and, to prevent the Akatsuki from getting their hands on both halves of the Kyuubi's power, Minato took one of them away; the girl, and used an advanced form of his thunder-god technique to teleport him and the baby girl to the nearest habitable planet; Earth.

16 years have passed since then......

…..0o0o0o0o0......

'Uh-oh' she thought as soon as she woke up.

She threw back her sheets, dashed out of her room and ran into the bathroom and leaned over the toilet just in time for her to throw up.

She emptied her stomach of all it's contents and had dry heaves for a while until she finally stopped; breathing heavy and too exhausted to continue.

She stood there panting with one hand on either side of the toilet, sweat drops on her forehead and trembling.

It was then that she noticed that someone was stroking her hair back from her sweaty face and rubbing her back.

"You okay, sweetheart?" her dad said in a low, quiet voice as he knelt next to her in his sweatpants and T-shirt that he wore as PJ's, his spiky blond hair was even messier than usual, as he'd just gotten out of bed.

Namine sighed as she wiped her mouth wit the back of her hand. "Yeah. Sorry I woke you."

Minato smiled gently at his daughter.

"Hey, if I don't take care of you when you're sick, what kind of a father would I be?"

"But dad, I've been having these episodes for months now; I'll just learn to deal with them. You're tired enough as it is with work everyday without me keeping you up all night!"

"Hey!"he said as he tapped Namine's nose. 'Don't you go sayin' that, missy; I'm fine! Your well-being comes before my sleeping patterns. Now lets go pick out a movie to watch."

He scooped her up like he did when she was little and draped her over his shoulder so one arm was in her knee-joint, keeping her from falling over while her arms and head dangled behind him.

"Hey! Dad, you'll hurt yourself again! Put me down!"

The man chuckled at this.

"So you take your dad to be a weakling now? Too bad; I'm still in my prime and you're sick."

Namine relented saying, "_This_ coming from the guy who couldn't open the pickle jar this afternoon, had to have _me_ move the refrigerator back into place after a _certain someone_ dropped their cellphone behind it and was too tired to mow the lawn this morning!; Compared to me, you _are _a weakling!"

He sweat dropped at this as he grimaced. He remembered all the times that Namine had beaten him in arm wrestling, had to help him lift heavy objects or just take them from him because they were just too heavy, carried ( yes; CARRIED!) him to bed when _he_ was sick, or tired and collapsed on the nearest stable surface that wasn't the floor when he got home, and did chores _he_ should have been doing (fixing the roof, house maintenance/repair, etc.).

He plopped his daughter down on the soft couch in the living room in front of the wide-screen Tvand went to the DVD cabinet.

"Who's turn is it to pick the movie?" he asked.

"I picked out 'Stick it' last time. It's your turn."

The man skimmed through the large selection of DVDs that they had and stopped at 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

"Here; we haven't watched this one in a while." he said as he popped the disk into the player and turned on the TV.

After they got to the DVD menu, he went and got some ginger-ales (good for movies and upset stomachs) a heat pack (for some reason, putting heat on Namine's stomach when she was sick made her feel better) and the meds that the doctor prescribed for her.

After giving these to her, he plopped down next to her, pulled a fluffy blanket around them and hit 'play' on the remote.

They both fell asleep to Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom sword fighting on a giant wheel.

…..0o0o0o0.....

Well, tell me what you think so far. I hope that this doesn't confuse people (ya know; about the whole story before-hand). Don't worry; I explain as I go through stories.

REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next chapter; ENJOY!!!!! :D

…..0o0o0o0.....

Namine woke with a jolt.

She tensed and was ready to dash for the bathroom, as the stomach spasms were the normal cause of her sudden and violent awakenings.

But the spasms never came. She felt fine.

Then what had woken her up?

She turned this over in her head as she became aware of her surroundings; Living room, couch, TV, dad snoring on the couch next to her..... wait.

"Dad." She said in a low voice. No response. "_Dad_." A few mumblings in his sleep and wrinkle in his forehead.

She was about to shake him awake when he grabbed Namine's arm and hugged it like it was his life-line as he gasped "Kushina!....." .

Namine froze. She knew that name.

(9 years earlier)

7-year-old Namine tried to keep up with the hospital bed being wheeled into the ER by doctors in teal clothes and masks, telling each other in urgent voices what the procedure was going to be for the operation.

"Daddy!!!??? What are you doing to my daddy?!??!!" she screamed as she tried to pull the unconscious man off the rolling platform.

A nurse realized the situation and grabbed the little girl while the doctors shoved open the doors to the ER and disappeared inside.

Little Namine struggled against the woman as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO TO DADDY!!!!!!??????", in-between sobs. After picking her up, quieting her to some degree and giving her a cookie, the nurse sat her down in the nursery and told her that her father was suffering from a rare heart disease were the heart is, for some reason, weakened and can't carry out much more than average day-to-day activities and that the doctors were looking for the cause.

"Is daddy gonna be okay?" the little girl said in a weak, scared voice.

"Of course, sugar, he'll be fine." the older woman assured her.

Namine quieted at this and began to nibble her cookie.

With a sad expression, the nurse left her in the care of the teens who worked there as a part time job and returned to her post. She just couldn't bring herself to tell the girl the truth; her father would never be able to play sports with her, chase her around the house like she did with her daughters, or even do a lot of the work a father was supposed to do for his family. He couldn't do much of anything now that it was proved that his heart couldn't hold under the strain. The poor child, she will be heart-broken.

-.-.-.-

Namine had fallen asleep at her father's bedside that night, his large hand held tightly in her two small ones.

His movement was what had awoken her. She looked up with sleepy eyes to see her father looking at her with an expression she'd never seen on his face.

"Daddy! You're awake!!" she exclaimed happily. But after studying her father's expression a little more, she quieted once again and said in a small voice, "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Minato had actually woken up earlier and had spoken to the doctor. He had learned about his condition and he couldn't face the fact that he wouldn't be able to do all the things he'd wanted to do with his daughter; Like help her practice for sports and teach her taijutsu. He wouldn't even be able to support them.

The tears that Minato had been trying to hide from his little girl spilled out as he bit his lower lip in frustration, anger, and anxiety as he cleared his throat and told Namine what had happened.

"Namine,....." he began after he explained his condition. "I..... I won't.....I can't......" he couldn't speak as the tears started to come from his eyes as he squeezed them shut and took both of her small hands in his and held them tight.

Namine was scared. She'd never seen her strong father cry. She'd always thought he was invincible, like any little girl thought her dad was. To see him cry like this and not know why scared her.

"......I..... I wish Mommy was here-"

Right after she said that she instantly regretted it, covering her mouth.

No one mentioned mom. That was kind of an unspoken family rule. She had taken the hint from a very young age and had never mentioned the fact that she didn't know anything about her mother. Minato, in turn, had never mentioned it to Namine.

This was the first time she had ever said something like that and Minato instantly opened his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and regret.

He looked at his little girl and said after a long pause. "Honey..... I know. I wish your mom was here too."

Knowing she was treading on dangerous ground, Namine timidly asked, "Where is she?"

"......" Minato closed his eyes and said slowly, "She's..... somewhere very far away. But you need to know that she loves you. Very much. She told me to say that to you long ago. She loves you....." he opened his eyes. "and she misses you."

Namine let this sink in and then asked, "What's her name?"

Minato smiled. "Her name is Kushina."

-.-.-.-.-

(present time)

Namine sighed and stared at her dad's face. He looked like he was having a nightmare. He looked so vulnerable.

She took both of his shoulders and shook hard, "Dad! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

Minato took a sudden intake of breath as he woke and opened his eyes.

"Oh. Sorry, sweetheart." he said as he sweat-dropped and released her now-asleep arm from his death-lock.

Namine smiled and stood up. "I'll go make breakfast."

As soon as she left, Minato sighed and put his arm across his eyes.'That was a creepy nightmare. I hope Namine didn't hear much if I talked in my sleep.'

He had had a nightmare about home. It was destroyed.

…..0o0o0o0.....

Well, I hope y'all liked the 2nd chapter! ^-^

Let me know if you have any suggestions for the plot (please make them realistic!! _)

REVIEW!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry......again. *sigh* This gets quite annoying.....

Well, the good news is that I was able to undo some annoying Open Office preset settings and actually do the punctuation I WANT instead of turning the *'s to **bold** words.

Anywho: ONWARD! XD

…..0o0o0o0......

(in Konoha)

The village really _was _destroyed. It had been a week after Pein's attack on Konoha and the villagers were still in shock. There had _never_ been so much destruction in an attack before.

Among the shinobi feebly looking for supplies in the rubble, Naruto was picking through what used to be his apartment building.

Muttering to himself, he wiped the sweat from the back of his neck and tightened his headband that he had turned into a bandanna to keep his hair out of his eyes. He had gotten next to no sleep (much to Sakura's dismay) since his battle and dark circles were forming under his eyes to a startling degree.

Kakashi was just as worried as their pink-haired teammate as he watched Naruto stagger around in the rubble off to his left.

He knew the expression the blond had on his face; He just never thought he'd see it on Naruto so soon. It was a combination of utter weariness, anger, feeble determination, sadness, and a look that to those who hadn't worn it themselves would have classified as stoic; An expression void of any emotion. But Kakashi knew that look well. It was the opposite. It was an expression that only came to those who had seen the true meaning of death, evil and sorrow. It was a mask to cover those emotions that threatened to consume him when he closed his eyes and saw everything come back to haunt him.

Konoha's number one most determined and surprising ninja

was world weary.

Making a slight sound of exclamation, Naruto shoved aside a pillar and picked up a small picture frame, held it in both hands, and stood.

He looked at his and Sasuke's face, scowling their dissatisfaction at being in the same picture as one another.

And he let his mind wander.........

…..0o0o0o0.....

"Miss Namikaze, would you _please_ answer my question?"

Snapping out of her daze, Namine looked around, blushing, as she saw that all eyes in the classroom were on her.

Looking back to the overly skinny female science teacher, she meekly replied, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Mignery. Could you repeat that?", giving the teacher one of her most apologetic smiles.

The elder woman didn't fall for it in the least.

"I'll see you after school today."

Namine sighed as the annoying preps in the back of the classroom giggled to themselves.

She took care to pay attention for the rest of class, but let herself think over the picture that had just popped into her head.

_It looked like some sort of photo of the characters that she had been drawing since she learned how to hold a pencil. Only they were their younger selves, instead of their older versions she had been drawing. Funny.... she couldn't remember the last time she had pictured their 12 year old selves. Now she only saw them as her age....._

...0o0...

The door closed softly. Namine listened intently for signs that her father was in the house.

Not hearing so much as a peep, creak of the house, footstep on the floors, or breathing other than her own, Namine sighed in relief and turned around to take off her coat and hang it up......

And proceeded to go into cardiac arrest when she saw Minato leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other, one arm behind him, and the other closing the door that Namine had left open.

"Detention again?"

Namine scowled, recovering from her heart attack.

Minato smiled softly and put his hands up in a 'hold your horses' pose. "I don't blame you. I know how you drift off without knowing..... That _is_ the reason you were in detention, right?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Namine sighed and shrugged. "_Yes_, dad; I wouldn't intentionally do something that would get me into detention."

Minato gave her his trademark grin which she slowly returned. Her grin (he had noted from when she was small) wasn't exactly like his, but it was close. It had a hint of her mother's heart-melting smile she had always given Minato when she said she loved him. That same smile she had given him that fateful night.....

He was glad that Namine had turned around in time for his face to fall at the sudden memory. Why was he thinking of it now? It had been 16 years; he had learned to deal with the fact that he might never see his wife and son again a long time ago. He had learned to deal with the fact that Namine's smile looked like hers.....

"Do you want homemade pizza or pasta for dinner?"

He looked up from staring at the floor to look at his daughter. She was wearing the apron that he had gotten her on one of his business trips. He remembered how she had gotten such a kick out of it when he had shown it to her; It was bright orange with black trimming with big letters that said 'Kiss me. I'm the cook. (which means you'll eat lard and haggis if I feel unappreciated)'. She was putting her mid-back length hair up in a pony tail and opening the freezer to get the ingredients she needed.

_She looks just like her mother...._Minato thought, frozen in place by the doorway.

Namine, having put her hair up and turned around upon not hearing an answer from Minato, put her hands on her hips and gave her dad a 'what's that expression for?' look.

Snapping out of his trance, Minato stammered out a 'pizza' and walked quickly towards his bedroom.

Once inside, Minato shut the door behind him and plopped down on his bed.

_Pull yourself together you idiot!_ ,He chastised himself. _You've been strong these past few years. You have no reason to break down now! Namine needs you to be strong. Naruto needs you to stay strong. Konoha's depending on you to keep the other half of the Kyuubi's chakra safe. Akatsuki can't get their hands on either of them. You're the 4__th__ hokage, for cryin' out loud! You need to keep yourself composed and-_

He felt a wetness on his cheek.

….._But I miss them all so much...._

He bit his lip in an attempt to keep the tears from falling.

_Why do I always have to be such a cry baby?!?!?!?! _he yelled to himself as he burrowed his face into his pillow and let the quiet sobs come.

After a minute, he felt a hand on his back rubbing slow circles.

Namine had heard him from the other room.

She didn't say anything. For that he was thankful.

After a little while, she left the room for Minato to find she had brought in a small, one-person pizza just the way he liked it; tomato sauce, lots of cheese, and little bits of bacon.

And he wondered what he'd ever done to deserve a daughter like his.

...0o0...

In her room, Namine munched on a slice of her mini-pizza as she sketched the picture that had so inconveniently formed in her head during her teacher's lecture on the structure of proteins.

As she finished, she picked up her sketch book and looked at it from arm's length. For some reason, it looked _fuzzier _than her other sketches; As if she was looking at it through _dirty glass._

Shrugging, Namine rose, walked to her shelf where she kept all her drawings and pulled out her most recent folder. She had stashed every picture she ever drew of the characters in her own little world.

She had even come up with names for every one of them; The black-duck-butt haired boy with the cocky look on his face, she had named Sasuke. She had first drawn him with crayons in her preschool class with a detailed description of who he was to her mind, much to the delight of the teachers who thought she had '_such_ an imagination'. Next, she had drawn a tall, brunette man with a warm smile and a scar on his face. This one, whom she had named Iruka, had disturbed the teachers a little with the scar. When they asked her where he had gotten the scar, she had replied that she didn't know, which was strange because she usually knew a lot about her characters. The pictures had ranged from beautiful scenery of a large village, to a small apartment room, to a large cliff with faces carved on them, to other kids. There were a few that had held a certain interest to her. Those she kept on drawing.

She picked up one picture that she had drawn when she was 12. It was a man. About 25 years old. He had silver hair, like an old man, a mask over his face, a book in his hand, and one eye covered. She had been a bit perplexed by him. He wasn't like any of the other characters, except he wore the same outfit Iruka did. With some thought, she had found a name in her brain that she thought would suit him; Kakashi. It was a very good drawing of him leaning against a tree, eyes on his book, in a relaxed position. She had wanted to show her dad.

(4 years ago)

_"Daddy!!! Come see what I drew!!! It's probably my best character yet!!!!"_

_ Minato looked up from the book he had been reading on the couch. He had known that Namine doodled, but she had never let him see many of them. She said she was afraid that he'd laugh at her for drawing a weird place and weird people. Now that she was coming to him, telling him to look at one of her drawings, he was absolutely delighted to finally see one of his daughter's artworks._

_ "See? It's another adult! I thought him up just this morning! Doesn't he look cool??"_

(present day)

To this day, Namine was still confounded over her father's reaction to that picture.

_I mean, as if __turning white as sour cream__ hadn't been enough of a reaction, he had started to choke on his gum, eyes practically popping out of his head, _Namine remembered. _And then, after I was done explaining what his name was and what he was like, he had handed me back the picture, made a sort of drunken bee-line towards the kitchen, and started whacking his head on the door-post....._

Namine laughed to herself as she recalled that day. He had asked (more like demanded) to see her other pictures. He seemed to just grow more and more into shock as he looked at every picture that she had drew since she picked up that first pencil. People, buildings, rooms, fields, almost as if he knew them already......

Sighing to herself, she put the drawing of Kakashi away and was about to turn around to finish doing her homework when another drawing caught her eye.

That boy.....

She drew out the old drawing from the same folder she had put Kakashi in. It was a 12 year old boy. He looked like what Namine had always pictured she would look like as a guy..... except for his outfit. She wondered to herself as to why in the _world_ she drew him in that tacky bright-orange and blue outfit......

He was special to her though; For the life of her, she couldn't find a name for him. Whenever a name would pop into her brain, it never seemed to suit him. He had gone without a name for as long as Namine could remember.

_I'll think of a name for him eventually,_ she thought to herself as she put the drawing back and returned to her desk.

But then the room started to spin......

Grabbing a table for support, Namine tried to regain her composure, surprised at the sudden wave of dizziness. Taking deep breaths, Namine sank to her bed.

_Where did __that__ come from????_

Then, to her shock, she felt tears start to run down her cheeks.

"Wha-?.... W-what's goin......*sob*"

_What's going on?!?!!? What's wrong with me????_ she screamed in her head as she started to break down for no reason other than she felt some sort of unexplained grief wash over her.

She was about to call for Minato, but she suddenly felt.....so.........tired.

Darkness.

…..0o0o0o0.....

Naruto froze where he stood. He suddenly felt.....better; As if someone had lifted some of the weight off his chest. He didn't feel as tired either.

Shrugging to himself, he headed towards the tent that had been set up to act as the temporary Konoha headquarters to hand in his report on the supplies he had recovered.

…..0o0o0o0.....

Well..... I hope you liked it! =^-^=

**Review, if you please :3**


	4. Chapter 4

So here I am, on my way to Washington DC at 5 am and all I can think about is that this 6 hour trip is going to be perfect to start typing up the next chapter to Namine.

**For those of you who have asked, yes, I chose the name Namine because 1. I believe that names should have a certain significance as to who the person is and the Namine in Kingdom Hearts draws pictures that 'effect fate' (I really didn't know how to say it otherwise). The Namine in this story is the same way in the sense that her drawings show her dad that she is actually in some ways seeing what her brother in Konoha sees... And as we're going to see in this chapter, That interesting habit is going to give Minato an idea of just what's going on at home. 2. I am **_**terrible**_** at finding names. Especially Japanese ones, as I only know a few.**

Anywho,... ANOUNCEMENT: Now that I've finally left my sophomore year of high school in the dust (finally), I will be posting more now that I don't have homework to do! Yay! So feel free to yell at me if I don't post in a timely manner.

...0o0o0o0...

(NOTE: Please read notes above)

Namine awoke to the sound of the house desperately trying to wake her up.

"Mistress Namine. Mistress! Your father has requested your assistance in the kitchen. Please wake up!", said a mechanical woman's voice.

The shades to her windows automatically rolled up and the lights in her bedroom were all switching on and off at an annoying frequency. The usually blue strip of light above her door was a panicked yellow, showing the home system's distress at the fact that it was failing at the assigned task of waking it's master's daughter. The computer was about to resort to playing one of the young mistress' favorite loud songs at a fairly high volume through hidden speakers around the room, when Namine sat up and yelled "ALRIGHT already! I'm AWAKE!"

Job done, the lights stopped flashing and some of them remained on, the yellow strip of light turned back to a calm blue and the house system felt like breathing a sigh of relief- It was always hard to wake the young mistress in the morning, as she hardly ever got enough sleep. Knowing that Namine would be cranky if it were to say anything, the computer remained quiet, softly blinking the blue light above the door to let Nanime know that it was still active in her room if she needed anything.

Namine stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, trying to get the crick out of her spine and then yawned and rubbed her aching and gritty eyes. 'What was that all about last night?' She thought to herself as she remembered the fit of exhaustion she'd had the previous night along with the sudden moodswing.

Getting out of bed, she started to head towards her dresser to get some day clothes on. Then she noticed that the light above her door was still on and flashing.

"I want a big mug of coffee, some french toast and a bowl of fruit for breakfast, please." she said to the computer.

Now knowing that there were no hard feelings between itself and the young mistress, the system told Namine what the master had asked it to tell her.

"Will do, mistress. Also, your father has asked me to tell you that you have a doctor's appointment at 4:15 this afternoon and that it's grocery day. The list and cash are on the kitchen table. He also said that he has started the laundry, but you need to rotate it before the items in the washer become moldy."

"Thanks, Amanda. You can turn off for now."

The name Amanda being the pet name that the Namikazes had given the home system, the blue light above the door went out, leaving Namine to get dressed.

...0o0...

Namine came into the kitchen after getting changed and found that her father had, indeed, left a list of groceries needed along with a wad of cash on the kitchen table.

Along with that, the home system was hard at work warming up the oven for french toast and finishing up another perfect mug of coffea, just how Namine liked it- with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 a cup of 1% milk. On top of that, 'Amanda' had made sure that the floor was heated to a comfortable temperature for Namine's feet and that when Namine took a shower after breakfast like she usually did, the tempurature would be just right and her favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap were in the dispensers.

While Namine was in the shower after breakfast, Amanda quietly checked Namine's laptop to make sure her homework for the weekend was done, do a quick scan for viruses, and update some software that needed updating. After that, Amanda checked the weather predictions to see if Namine should bring an umbrella and to check for any traffic problems or news that Namine might have needed to hear.

Rendering Namine's homework done, computer clean of viruses, software updated, weather sunny, traffic relatively light and nothing on the news that might concern the young mistress, the computer nodded a virtual nod of satisfaction and went into hybernation until either it's mistress or master called on it again.

...0o0...

Namine was driving home with a trunk full of groceries. The volume of her radio was turned up and she was listening to one of her favorite bands when she saw him.

The man was standing on the curb. He had on a strange orange mask that swirled and made him look like an over-sized lollipop. As if his strange mask wasn't enough, his choice of attire was so out of place that Namine couldn't help but stare.

'Who in the world would stand on a street corner in a black cloak with red clouds on it?' she thought as she drove on.

All of a sudden, Namine found herself fighting the urge to floor the gas pedal and book it home. She didn't know what it was about the strange man, but he woke in her a strange feeling of dread and the feeling that she should get away from him, asap.

...0o0...

Minato came home from work to find his daughter furiously sketching something in her notebook that he had gotten her for Christmas.

"Heya, honey. What're you drawing?"

He always got a little nervous whenever she did this. It usually meant that she saw someone else from home through Naruto's eyes and was attempting to draw them.

"Just some dude I saw on the avenue while I was getting groceries."

Minato mentally breathed a sigh of relief as he set his laptop bag down on the kitchen table.

"So you did go grocery shopping? Good. And the laundry?"

"Done."

Minato walked into the laundry room to change into something more comfortable than his shirt and tie. He was a physics teacher at the high school in the next town over.

"So what did this 'dude' look like to make you want to draw him?"Minato asked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and grabbed a pair of his favorite sweatpants.

"He had on the weirdest outfit," Namine answered. " And a mask. An orange mask! It was all swirly and looked like a lollipop."

Minato froze. No. It couldn't be. There was no WAY it could be him! He was on another planet! Minato had made sure that there was no other way that anyone on that planet could travel to this planet! He had made sure that the portal that he had made for himself and his daughter was very well hidden and, after he made his trip with baby Namine in his arms, the portal would self-destruct so that no one else could even find them, much less follow them here! How could Uchiha Madara find them?

Minato took a deep breath and told himself to calm down.

'There's no way it could be him. You're just over reacting. That person could be anyone. It's not like his mask was _that_ unique,' he told himself as he calmly moved back over to the couch where his daughter was doodling.

Namine closed her notebook, doodle finished, as her father sat down next to her and kissed her forehead.

"So how was your day?" he asked.

"Good. Why'd you have to go back to work today? It's Saturday."

"Some papers needed grading and I had to meet with some parents."

"Seniors giving you trouble again?"

"Yup." Minato said as he sunk against the armrest of the couch, exhausted.

Namine chuckled softly. "You really should take a break. You're already tired and you were only away for a few hours."

Minato sighed. "You're probably right."

And with that, he slowly got up and headed for his bedroom to get a good power nap.

"Good night." he said.

"Good night. I'll wake you when dinner is ready." Namine replied, turning on the tv.

Unbeknownst to the two, there was a figure who was watching from the window. Planning his next move. Waiting for the right time.

...0o0o0o0...

Dun. Dun. DHUN!

Cliffy! :D

As you have probably guessed by now, the Namikazes don't exactly live in 2010. More like 2050 or 2080... Somewhere around there.

I thought it kind of ironic that Minato teaches physics when he defied the very laws of physics back in Konoha... You will figure out why Minato is constantly tired later.

Again, people; I am now free most of the time, so please feel free to yell at me if I don't post in a timely manner.

Ciao! ^^


	5. Chapter 5

Second chapter on the same car ride. I guess that's what happens when you are in a car for 6 hours...

...0o0o0o0...

Minato's soft breathing could be faintly heard through the door as Namine pressed her ear to it. She wanted to make sure he actually _was_ sleeping. He hadn't been sleeping very well as of late.

"Amanda." Namine whispered.

The light strip a few feet down the hallway slowly increased it's brightness until it's blue glow lit up that part of a hallway.

"Yes, mistress?" the computer answered in a volume much lower than it's usual volume. It knew that it's master was asleep and it was programed to 'whisper' back is it was whispered to.

"Notify me when he wakes up. And if I'm not back when he wakes up, tell him I'm on a walk."

"I would advise against taking a walk, mistress. The sun has already set and your father would not like the thought of you taking a walk in the dark." Indeed, there were a few records of Minato reprimanding Namine for taking walks after dark when she was younger in Amanda's database. The computer also didn't like the idea of the young mistress being somewhere outside the vicinity where it couldn't keep track of her. And during a time of night when most kidnappings occur, no less.

"That was when I was a little girl, Amanda. I'm almost 17. I'll be fine." Namine said as she grabbed her shoes from the front entrance.

Seeing no point in trying to convince the young mistress otherwise, Amanda opened the door for her with the wish that she be home before ten thirty.

...0o0...

The night was just right for a walk. There was a full moon and the air was clear enough so that it was almost as light as it would be on a cloudy day. It was warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough to feel refreshing.

Namine took a deep breath and started jogging down the park pathway. It was very close-by to the house and she didn't feel worried- it was only for a little jog. And it was so light out, someone'd have to be a flippin' _ninja_ to sneak up on her.

...0o0...

As all readers _probably_ know, a ninja was _exactly_ what was currently following her. He quickly realized that he hardly had to put any effort into concealing his presence from her.

'Good grief, didn't Minato teach her any sense of caution or ability to sense if someone's following her? It's almost pathetic how easy this is.' Madara thought as he slowly started gaining on his target.

As she turned a sharp corner, the man slipped into the bushes to his left so by the time she came around to the other side, he would be waiting in the undergrowth.

...0o0...

Namine turned another corner. Something didn't seem right. She couldn't really put her finger on it, though. All she knew was that, suddenly, she'd had this cold feeling start to creep up her spine and when she had noticed this she had taken a quick look around her and noticed that all the night sounds around her had stopped; The crickets had stopped chirping, the owls had stopped their occasional hooting, and all Namine could hear now was the occasional breeze going through the trees and the her foot-falls.

She didn't like this.

She immediately thought of her father.

When she and her father had gone to New York City for a day when she was little, they had found themselves in a sleazy part of the city and there were a lot of dark alleys and questionable characters that they came across. Her dad had taken her up into his arms and walked purposefully past every person they came across, silently telling everyone that he had a little girl in his arms and he wasn't afraid to beat the snot out of anyone and everyone who so much as looked at her for too long. She remembered him back then- He had seemed to sense people before he could even see or hear them. And he seemed to be so perfectly balanced, even with her on one hip, that he could spring in any direction within a blink of an eye.

Namine stopped in her tracks. She could have sworn she'd heard something.

...0o0...

'Damn cat!' Madara mentally kicked himself for not seeing the stupid creature ahead of time. He had been quietly sitting in the bushes with the target in sight when the stupid feline had rubbed against his leg, making him jump and make his cloak ruffle noisily.

'Great. Just _great._' He thought. 'Now she's on the alert.'

He figured that he'd better pull this off fast before she started panicking.

Slowly, he started to stalk silently towards where she was standing, stock-still, on the side of the pathway. He came so close, that he could see every muscle in her body that twitched.

She didn't see him.

He quickly dashed from his hiding place, four feet behind her and reached to grab her.

WHACK!

...0o0...

Namine couldn't believe it. She hadn't even seen him, and yet she was able to sense exactly where he was the moment he attacked. Right behind her. Then, before she had known what she was doing, she had whipped around brought her leg up and had executed a perfect upwards kick to the underside of her attacker's jaw!

Shocked, Namine froze while her attacker tried to right himself.

'DAMN THIS INCREASED GRAVITY!' Thought Madara as he tried to right himself, being a good 100 pounds heavier than what he was back in Konoha.

Finally, he was able to right himself, but by the time he had done so, the blond was already hightailing home faster than a squirrel up a tree.

...0o0o0o0...

Woot! Second chapter in one day! ^^

But, let me tell you;

New Net-book+ Posh hotel room+ Air conditioning on a 100 degree (F) day+ Cookies

= BLISS!

Oh yes. Almost forgot- **As you've possibly noticed, I've left a clue in this chapter as to why Minato is the way he is, health-wise.**

**See if you can find it. **^^


	6. Chapter 6

Ugh. Sick as a dog, throwing up for the FIFTH TIME, and my mom STILL wants me to dance in my dance competition... this is going to end badly, I just know it... Anywho, so while I'm sitting here hoping to distract myself away from the fact that I think I had one too many muffins this morning, I thought I might as well write the next chappy for Namine. Let's hope I don't barf all over my keyboard in the process...

...0o0o0o0...

Minato had just woken up. The house was unusually quiet. Usually, Namine would be blasting music in her room, or there would be sounds of her doing the laundry, or washing the dishes, or something of the sort. The only sound that he could here was the soft humming that decreased and increased in volume- Amanda had a message for him.

"I'm awake, Amanda. What's the message?"

"Sir, the young mistress has gone for a walk. I informed her of your preferences that are against going out after dark, but she wouldn't listen."

Minato's eyebrow twitched. "Would you call her cellphone and put it on speaker phone with me?; I'd like to speak with her," he said through clenched teeth. He was always miffed when his daughter went and did something like this.

"I would, sir, but according to her cellphone location, she's already almost to the door. She seems to be running. Very fast, I might add..."

_She had _better_ be running! _Minato fumed in his head. He was already coming up with the perfect rant in his head that he was going to give her once she walked in the door as he exited his room, went down the hall and was about the turn into the living room when the door slammed open.

"You'd better have a good excuse this time, young lady, or your-"

He didn't get to finish because of his daughter running to him and tackling him in a vice-like grip around his middle. She was shaking like crazy, panting from her long sprint and her panic, and about to burst into tears.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMY-" Minato cut her off.

"What the hell? What's wrong?"

Namine looked up at her dad and was able to stutter out what had happened.

Minato stood there for a second, waiting for her words to sink in.

Then it clicked.

"SOMEONE TRIED TO KIDNAP YOU?"

The tears that had previously been held back now escaped her eyes. They weren't tears of fear, rather a weird reaction to the adrenaline still coursing through her body and they were wiped away quickly with the back of her hand.

"Well, I highly doubt that the mysterious guy in the weird mask crept up on me just to give me a hug... oh my god... that MASK!"

It was the same as the strange man's that she had seen earlier that day!

Goosebumps started to run up Minato's spine and made the hair on the back of his head spike even more.

"The guy that you saw earlier? I'll call the police. He wont get far. Especially not in that mask."

He ran into the kitchen to the cordless phone on the wall and dialed 911.

While he was on the phone with the police, Namine ran into her room to grab the picture that she had drawn earlier that day.

...0o0...

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Namikaze. We'll be sure to investigate this case to the best of our extent." said the female officer that had arrived at the Namikaze residence no more than 10 minutes after the call.

"Thank _you_ officer. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

Just then, Namine ran into the room with her sketchbook under one arm.

"I have a picture of him if you would like!" she said, flipping to the page in her sketchbook.

Finding the picture, she flipped the book around so that the officer and her father could see.

Minato stared.

There, drawn by his daughter in pencil, was the one man that he had hoped he would never see again. The one man that he had hoped his little girl would never know about and the one man that was able to send a shiver down his spine just by his mention.

So to figure out that _Uchiha Madara_ had somehow followed him to earth and had tried, and came close to succeeding, to kidnap his baby girl, made Minato go into a state of absolute panic.

But he couldn't let the cop see that. It would raise too many questions.

So he composed himself, just as he always did back on his home world before a big battle, with no emotion showing on his face, and did not say anything.

"Yes, that does help, honey. My, this is a very detailed picture..." the lady cop said, examining the drawing. "Did you just draw this?"

"No, I drew that earlier today, when I first saw him near the pharmacy in town. He was so odd looking, I had to draw a picture of him."

"Yes, your father said that you had seen him earlier me, what was he doing when you saw him?"

Namine thought back to that afternoon. "I was driving and I stopped for a red light which was across the street from where he was standing. He was just standing there, really still. Now that I think about it,..." she shivered as she realized, "...it was like he was staring right at me..."

Minato had to give it everything he had to keep the calm mask on his face. _He had seen her that afternoon and followed her home!_

"Alright, we'll ask around to see if anyone has seen him. Which is pretty likely considering his apparel... We'll contact you in the morning. In the meantime, make sure you lock all your doors, close all your windows and keep a cell phone on you both at all times." she said, addressing both Namine and Minato. "We'll keep you posted. G'night you two."

The Namikazes bid the woman goodnight and Minato closed the door behind her. Then he whirled to face his daughter. His mask had slipped off and now Namine could see the panic in his eyes.

"Honey, I want to to get all your things together and pack what you can into suitcases, backpacks, purses, anything."

Confused, Namine replied, "But dad, the police are handling it. And nobody can get into this house without Amanda knowing. We're not in any danger... right?"

She had no idea how wrong that statement was.

"Actually, honey, we ARE in danger. More than you know. Now do as I say, please." His eyes pleaded her to do as he asked.

"But, daddy-"

"No buts. Just start packing. Don't bother packing too many clothes. You won't need them where we're going. And we won't need things like shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes... stuff like that. Now get a move on!"

Wondering what had come over her father to be like this, Namine did as her father asked her and went into her room to start packing her things and to decide which clothing articles she was going to leave behind.

...0o0...

Minato threw open the door to his room and marched over to his bed. Lifting up the mattress, he revealed hidden compartments in the woodwork of his bed frame.

Chucking the mattress to the side, he opened one of the compartments after pressing his thumb to the fingerprint scanner. The lids popped open and in the hidden compartments were several things- 1. Several dozen of his custom kunai, 2. An assortment of different sized scrolls ranging from about an inch wide and a hand's length tall to enormous scrolls almost a foot in diameter and came to Minato's ribcage, and 3. Some letters and documents that he knew he would need before the sun rose tomorrow that he had hoped he would never have had to use.

'Time to get to work.' He mumbled to himself.

...0o0o0o0...

Yayz! Even I'm getting excited! :D

So yeah, the distraction methods didn't work; I threw up. A lot. Bleh. .

Oh well. Didn't do so hot with my competition either. Didn't place. As I explained to my mom,

"That's what happens when you dance after you puke your guts out; You fail!"

Then my mom proceeded to recall to me the day I felt sick as a dog, almost passed out on stage, danced, and then went home and, no lie, had a SEIZURE, and I still placed 3rd.

I'm still trying to convince her that either that was some miracle, stroke of good luck, or the judge was on LSD.

Anywho. I'm feeling better now.

Oh. Yeah. For those of you who are leaving anonymous reviews:

1. You are asking me questions as if I can reply to you personally. I can't. So stop doing that, please.

2. Thank you for posting a review anyway! ^^

3. Yes, Namine is from Kingdom Hearts. I think I've addressed that subject already, so if you haven't done so, please read the author's notes at the beginning and end of each chapter- They explain things

REVIEW PLZ! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Okay! Back to Namine! It seems like I am only writing these chapters on trips! Currently writing in the car on my way to a water park... And watching 'Nim's Island'. Good inspiration.

...0o0o0o0...

Namine didn't understand. They were supposed to be _safe_ weren't they? The cops would handle this. That's what they were there for. To protect people. Right? So why were they running from this person when the cops had expressed that they were handling it?

Still, Minato had acted pretty upset when he saw the picture she had drawn... had he seen the man before?

These thoughts ran through here head over and over as Namine got out her suitcases, duffel bags, backpacks and anything else that would hold her belongings out of the closet. Doing this, she went to her dresser and, as her dad told her, she only packed the clothes she didn't want to leave behind. She still edged a bit on the practical side, packing only one dress just because it was her favorite and mainly packing clothes she would take on camping trips- shorts, t-shirts, tanktops, and simple, sturdy clothing.

'Okay... what am I forgetting clothes-wise?...'

Snapping her fingers upon remembering, Namine went out in the hall and headed towards the garage where she kept her hiking boots.

On her way there, she walked past her dad's room. The door was slightly ajar so she was able to get a glance at what her father was doing... She stopped.

Stepping towards the door, she pushed it open a little more so she could get a better look at the scene.

Her dad wasn't packing. He was pulling stuff out of hidden compartment that she had no idea was under his bed. And it wasn't clothing, or supplies, or anything she expected; It was... scrolls. Lots of them. Of all different sizes.

"Daddy?"

Minato whipped around.

"Uhhhh..." Minato didn't quite know how to explain sealing to his daughter who thought chakra only existed in the stories he used to tell her when she was little. "I'll explain later, honey. Could you do me a favor?"

"... okay..." Namine replied, unsure as to how to respond to this kind of situation.

"Go into the garage and get all that rock-climbing supplies I got for our trip to Colorado. And get some lanterns, flashlights, the cooler, and all the batteries you can find..." he paused for a moment. "Oh! And I know this is a high order, but do you think you could get the solar panels down from the roof?"

Namine blinked in surprize. The solar panels? What did her dad want with the solar panels? She was starting to think that her dad was going a little crazy.

"Dad?... Are you feeling okay?" she asked, putting her hand on his forehead, checking for a fever.

Reading her mind, Minato replied, "I'm fine, sweetheart. Listen, I know I'm acting a little crazy right now, but you have to understand..." he thought for a moment, trying to think of something his daughter would believe. "It's about where me and your mother came from."

Namine snapped to attention. Her father had never said anything about where they came from. Never. Never about why she didn't know who her grandparents were, never about why Minato had a slight accent that she could never identify, anything.

Deciding to believe her father for the mean-time, Namine walked out of the room to finish packing a do as her father asked.

Minato turned back to his work, sighing in relief. 'At least she's cooperating... I'm glad she didn't notice the kunai, though- That would have been impossible to explain.'

...0o0...

Namine just simply didn't know what to think. Plain and simple.

She had done as her father asked and gotten all of the rock-climbing equipment into the living room and then gotten all of the flashlights, lanterns and batteries she could find. She was now on the roof unplugging the solar panels from the wiring on the roof.

'But what does he want with these? They won't do us any good on a trip, they'll just slow us down.'

Unplugging the last cable, she crawled carefully down to the ladder with one panel under her arm. She was trying to be careful, but it was still dark at 4 am. And she was dog tired.

'Daddy, what are you _thinking_?'

...0o0...

Namine came back inside after taking the solar panels down from the roof. She walked down the hallway into her bedroom... and found her dad unrolling one of the larger scrolls on the floor.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" she asked. This was just getting too weird. And she dealt with a lot of weirdness from her dad on a daily basis.

"Is this all you have packed?" he asked, not answering Namine's question. "I know I told you not to pack a lot of clothes, but that's not a lot of stuff." he said, gesturing to Namine's small pile of bags and suitcases by her bed.

"I figured since you said not to pack those things, I should pack light. Besides, the van isn't big enough to fit everything."

Minato, who was kneeling next to the large scroll that he had rolled out, turned back to the scroll which had an intricate design on it in a diamond pattern. Namine had no idea what it was for.

"Hand me one of your suitcases, will you?" Minato asked, holding out his hand.

Namine did so and Minato set the suit case down so that it was centered on one particular design in the large diamond pattern. "Another one, please."

They did this until there was a bag or suitcase on every design on the scroll (Minato had run into the other room to get some of his baggage so that he could fill the places where there wasn't a piece of luggage). Then Minato stood up straight and brought his hands together so that it looked like he was praying, then leaned foreward and bent his knees and slammed his hands, palms down, on the scroll.

POP! And a cloud of smoke.

Namine jumped in surprise. And started waving the smoke away with her hand. "What the- Dad?"

The smoke dissipated quickly and Minato stood up, looking quite proud of himself.

The luggage was gone.

Namine blinked. Then rubbed her eyes. Then pinched herself. To no effect. They had dissapeared.

"Haha, _very funny_, dad. How'd you do that?" she asked, thinking this was some sort of magic trick.

"I only activated the seal. Ingenious thing your mother came up with- you don't need chakra to seal things inside it; the chakra's already there. You just need to flip the 'on' switch." he said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Except that that was one of the most rediculous things Namine had heard come out of his mouth yet.

"Chakra? Dad, that's that magic stuff that you used to tell me about when I was little. It's not real!"

"Actually, it's very real." her dad replied, rolling up the scroll. "All that I told you about was true."

You can kind of imagine what must have been going through the teen's head.

"... Dad..."

Immediately noticing his daughter's change in tone, Minato stood up, walked over to Namine, put both of his large, calloused hands on her shoulders and said, "Get the rest of your stuff. Your computer, your books, your... your folders with the drawings in them. Especially those. I'll bring up some boxes from the garage."

'That's it. My dad is going too far! Is this some sort of twisted joke? Has he finally up and lost it?' Namine wondered as her dad stepped out of the room to prepare more storage scrolls. Namine brought her loose braid around in front of her and started pawing at it while biting her right thumb, which was something she only did in situations where she had no idea what was going on.

'Okay, he's gotta be having some sort of mental break-down or something. I mean, I know that he kinda just made a bunch of stuff dissapear... but that had to be some kind of trick to get me to go along with him in this... this... I-don't-know-what!'

Pacing the floor, Namine contemplated what she was going to do to get her father to see reason. Should she talk to him? No... he was too busy with whatever it is that he's doing to listen to her. Should she call somebody? The police? A shrink? The mental hospital? No, that would bring hell to their door what with people already being suspicious of Minato due to his knowledge (or rather, lack there-of) of normal American society, strange habits, weird accent, and no background for anyone to know of.

She stopped pacing. 'What if I hit him over the head with something, knocking him out, and tie him to a chair and interogate him until he tells me what's wrong, why is he doing this, and how the HELL did he make those bags dissapear?'

She thought about it for a split-second. 'No way. I couldn't hurt him like that! Besides, he's so strung-up and tense right now, I wouldn't be able to sneak up on him if I tried-'

She felt a pinch on her neck and she was out like a light.

Minato caught his daughter before she hit the ground and carried her to their mini-van park outside.

As he laid her down on the back seat, he made sure she wasn't going to fall off, then brushed a few strands of hair from her face and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I looked at you pacing in your room and knew what you were thinking. I know everything sounds crazy to you right now, but I promise I'm going to make everything okay."

Then, after making sure that she was settled, he closed the door to the car, locked it (just in case) and went back inside to finish packing.

...0o0o0o0...

Another chapter DONE. And none too soon... Sorry about the several months long delay, guys... ^^;

Anywho, **I have decided to write a prequel to this story: **I figured there was way too many things that never got said. Like how did Minato find out about earth? How did he get here? How was he able to learn english, get an education and a job, a house, and everything? Where was Namine during all this time? I figured it would be perfect for another story.

**Although, I'm having a few gaps in the time-line, so if any of you have any suggestions as to what Minato would do upon his arrival on Earth, be my guest to REVIEW and tell me your ideas. Specifically, I need the exact LOCATION of his arrival (New York City, middle of Arizona, Mexico? I need ideas!)**

**Also**

**Should I leave the story here for a while and write the prequel as the next few chapters, or should I write it as a whole new story and expand on it more? Answer in your REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

** . ... . ... Fuego-okami's a bad girl... *bows head in shame* I'm REALLY sorry to everyone for posting chapters several months apart. I'll try to be more prompt from now on... **

**Thank you to Runa Hika for reminding me to get off my forgetful butt. ^^;**

**Here's another chapter. Enjoy!**...0o0o0o0...

Namine's eyes fluttered open. She was in the car.

'How'd I get here? I don't remember-'

Then all the events of the previous night hit her like a ton of bricks. Her father had _knocked her out_!

'How could he-? Why would he-?'

She lifted her head and squinted into the afternoon sun. How long had she been out?

"Finally awake, I see."

Namine turned to face her father.

He wasn't looking at her. He was watching the road. Not that he _could_ look at her after what happened last night. He wasn't exactly proud of what he'd done.

Namine opened her mouth, then paused, trying to think of what to say. Not being able to think of anything right away, she shut her mouth and stared at her father; Giving him time to answer the questions he had to have known she had.

However, all Minato said was, "Hungry? There's a fast-food place up ahead."

That did it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? You have me pack up my stuff, make it disappear, then knock me out and stuff me in the car, and I still have no idea what's going on! Where are we going? Why are we going? ..MIND?"

Minato held a hand up to stop her rant, and Namine was going to ignore it but then she saw the dark circles underneath his eyes. The tensed shoulders and hand on the steering wheel, as if it was all he could do to keep hold of the car. The sad, tired look in his eyes.

"Daddy, just _tell_ me; What's going on?"

Minato gave a weary sigh, loosening some of the tension in his arms and shoulders.

"First things first; You need food, and I need a cup of coffea. Or seven. After that, I'll tell you everything."

"Everything?" she replied, pushing him to unofficially promise to tell her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the _freakin'_ truth.

"Everything. Now what do you want? MacDonalds or Subway?"

...0o0...

Minato sipped at his coffea, wondering how he was going to go about telling Namine about where they had come from.

Namine wasn't making it any easier. She was staring intently at her father, turkey sub untouched, telling him silently that if he didn't start talking in a minute, he was gonna get it.

Finally, Minato decided to be perfectly blunt.

"We're not from here." he began. He paused.

After a few seconds of him not speaking, Namine interjected. "...No _shit,_ Sherlock"

Minato glared at her.

She shut up.

"Do you remember all those stories that I told you when you were little?" he asked.

"Yeah. I remember. The ones about 'ninjas' and 'hidden villages' 'n stuff... Why?"

Minato settled back in his seat, preparing himself for her reaction to his next comment.

"What if I told you that that world actually exists?"

Namine paused for a moment. A variety of expressions flitting across her face. The most prominent ones being shock and disbelief.

"... What?"

Minato leaned foreward so that his face was right in front of his daughter's.

"It exists, honey. It's where we came from. It's where I'm from. It's where your mom and your brother are from."

Namine's eyes became as large as dinner plates. "BROTHER? What?"

Minato then began his story:

_When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, Kushina was going into labor. The Namikaze twins were going to be born in the middle of a blown-out battle. The shinobi of Konoha were fighting with everything they had, but the Kyuubi could not be held at bay. It crashed through buildings, up-rooted the forest surrounding the village and had killed a fair amount of shinobi. There was no stopping it. Except for one. Minato knew that the Kyuubi couldn't be killed; Only sealed away. But there was no way that any scroll or object could contain the vast amounts of chakra and evil intent that the Kyuubi had. It needed to be sealed inside a human being. But sealing it in a human being would make for an easy way for the newly-made group, Akatsuki, to steal the person and rip the Kyuubi's spirit from them. That's when the idea struck Minato._

_Earlier in his life, when he was about 14 years of age, he had just figured out a way to cover any distance in a fraction of a second. The Thunder God technique. He had started out with small distances- from tree to tree. Then from place-to-place in the village. He had grown confident in his ability. Too confident. He didn't feel as if he was going fast enough. More, and more he had practiced until finally, he got very frustrated at his apparent lack of progress and put all the energy he had left into one huge leap. It felt as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs. The scenery was whizzing by at a dizzying speed. Worse, he couldn't slow down. He tried to find some sort of hand-hold to grab onto to slow himself down, but it seemed as if the land-scape around him was growing fainter and disappearing. There was a bright light, then a flash, then Minato seemed to be standing still. There was a city. A sparkling, dazzling city, with towers that seemed to scrape at the sky. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before. He was in a different world. That world happened to be Earth. Not being able to get back because of lack of chakra and not knowing not exactly what he had done, Minato had stayed on Earth for almost a day. During that time, he quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to talk with the people there (they spoke an entirely different language, naturally) and that things on this planet where in some ways very different and in some ways very similar to the world he had come from. Similar in the fact that everyone acted basically the same as in Konoha with only a change in scenery. Different in the fact that technology was obviously more advanced there and, one thing that Minato found out immediately, the gravity. It took Minato, who had some of the strongest legs in Konoha most of his energy to walk up a slight incline. The gravity had to be at least 3 times that of back home. Finally, after an entire day in a park (the only place he felt comfortable enough to relax because of so many trees and so few people) he decided to try again and go home. He clasped his hands together with his pointer and middle fingers pointing up and summoned his chakra, which he had assumed was regained by then. To his surprise, and horror, his chakra was still gone. It had not returned at all during all the hours he had been there! It was only due to the fact that he remembered that he had spent hours back in Konoha storing small supplies of chakra in his kunai that he was able to build up enough chakra to make the leap home. When he made it back home, he told the third hokage what he had seen. The hokage wrote it off as heat exaustion and told Minato to go home and get some rest. Minato had taken his advice and had already begun to think that maybe his little adventure really was heat exaustion._

_Until his health started taking a nose-dive._

_Only a day or two after his little adventure, Minato came down with several sicknesses that the medic-nin couldn't make hide-nor-tail of. He had small red spots that itched, an upset stomach, a head-ache to kill a bull, he had no energy to speek of and he kept on coughing and coughing. He had caught chicken-pox, the flu and bronchitis all at once. _

_The germs that had caused them were on the people that he had attempted to communicate with on Earth. Due to the fact that they had already had the diseases themselves, they were immune to the germs they carried. Minato wasn't. There are very few contaigens in the ninja world. It is pretty rare for a shinobi, with chakra to enhance their immune systems, to get sick. So when Minato had stepped on to a germ infested world with his chakra down to basically nothing, he had contracted a lot of things that the doctors back in Konoha didn't know how to handle. Luckily, Minato was able to get better on his own through constant care from the hospital and lots of chakra-filled pills. What came next was even worse; Due to the fact that the atmosphere in Konoha is a bit better than that of Earth, the ultra-violet rays are more filtered and the only way anyone could get a sunburn is around the Sand Village in the desert. Earth's atmosphere isn't nearly that good. After Minato had finally come off all of his sicknesses, he began to notice that some patches of skin had not been healed after his itchy disease (that's what he and the doctors had decided to call it). He asked the doctors to examine the patches of skin and the results came in. The infected skin was concentrated around several spots on his skin that had come into contact with radiation. People on Earth had grown used to the occasional UV ray that came from the sun. Minato had not. The doctors had to remove some skin and have him tested to make sure nothing else was affected by the radiation. Nothing else came up, but due to Minato's strange ailements, the hokage started to wonder if Minato really had gone to another world. _

_After the ailments went away, Minato forgot about them among training, missions, getting his genin team, being made hokage and marrying Kushina. But that small chance encounter gave Minato the idea he needed to make sure that Akatsuki never got their hands on the Kyuubi's power. He was going to take one of the twins with him to the other world while Kushina stayed in their world and raised the other. It was risky, but it might end up saving the people that he had sworn to protect. _

_So after Kushina gave birth, Minato took one of the twins, the girl, said good-bye to his wife and speed-stepped to Earth. From that point on, Namine knew most of the rest of the story._

**...0o0o0o0...**

**Don't yell. **

**Please.**

**There is another story I hope to write someday about that night that they were born, but not now. Also, it will include a detailed account of Minato's first day on Earth and how he was able to find his way in Earth society not knowing English, not having any money or job experience besides ninja work, and dealing with the fact that Earth has a lot more gravity and germs than Konoha. Also, there is no chakra.**

**Again, warning: You troll, I troll back. Five times meaner. Understood?**


	9. Chapter 9

Now let's see... Where was I again?

...0o0o0...

Namine sat in the passenger seat of the SUV with an unreadable look on her face.

Minato looked back with an equally unreadable look on his face.

Here is a basic synopsis of what was going through their heads:

Namine: _That's it. My father's insane. Bat-shit crazy. Stoned off his rocker. Blighted in the head. What do I do? Call the cops when he isn't looking to bring a straight-jacket and sedatives? Knock him out and drag him to the hospital? GAH!_

Minato: _Great. She probably thinks I'm crazy. I've got to show some sort of proof. But first things first. I've got to find her cellphone before she calls the cops or the mental hospital and I'd better make sure she doesn't sneek up on me with any large blunt objects._

They rode in silence, Minato sipping his coffee while Namine slowly ate her sub.

Minato turned off on an exit that had a sign for a hotel for them to stay the night, already making a mental note to keep one eye open for the night.

...0o0...

Kakashi looked at Naruto.

Team Kakashi was sharing Sakura's tent for the night as none of the buildings in Konoha were left standing and other people needed Kakashi's and Naruto's. Naruto was in the cot next to his.

He was sleeping very quietly, and that was what cued Kakashi in; Naruto usually snored when he slept.

"Why are you still awake?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

Naruto opened his eyes. The irridencent blue that usually could be seen even in the dark had a pale grey cast to them. The dark circles underneath his eyes were so noticable that it looked like Naruto had been on the recieving end of two of Sakura's punches. His face devoid of all emotion except the one of complete exhaustion, he answered "I could ask you the same thing, sensei."

Sakura turned over in her sleep, oblivious to the other two in her dreams about hot baths and hotter men.

"I've been taking regular naps in between shifts today. You haven't."

Naruto sighed. "I keep on having these strange dreams. Some of them I know are just from the events of the past week. But most of them are like I'm looking through the eyes of someone else. It's creepy."

Kakashi sat up. "What do you mean? Who's eyes are you looking through?"

"I dunno. Some girl. She's always drawing. That's all I see: her drawing things. The only reason I know it's a girl is because of her hands and painted fingernails. They're always drawings of things I know, too. One time it was Sakura in that kimono she wore for the New Year's festival we had last year, another time it was Shikamaru and Asuma playing shoji. It's all stuff I've seen before."

There was a pause.

"... And this ... bother's you?"

"Not the dreams themselves; Just the fact that whenever I wake up, I always feel even more tired than if I had stayed up the entire night. I always feel... drained."

This caught Kakashi's attention.

"You think that these dreams are draining your chakra?"

"I dunno... maybe." Naruto replied, groggily.

Kakashi quickly caught on that Naruto was about to pass out anyway, so he asked nothing more.

Naruto closed his eyes again. This time, snores started to come from his lips.

...0o0o0o0...

**I'm hitting some road bumps but I should be able to finish this story at some point... somehow..**


End file.
